What Is Happening on Manus Island? The Detainee Crisis Explained

Asylum seekers linking hands to resist the closing of the detention center on Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea, where some of them have been held for years.Credit
Hass Hassaballa, via European Pressphoto Agency

The United Nations warned on Thursday of an “unfolding humanitarian emergency” in Papua New Guinea, as hundreds of asylum seekers barricaded themselves inside an abandoned detention center on Manus Island, choosing to remain inside a camp devoid of food and clean water rather than relocate to alternative facilities in a city nearby.

The camp officially closed on Tuesday, but the detainees have refused to relocate to temporary accommodations, claiming fears of violent reprisals by the island’s residents.

Who are the detainees?

By law, Australia will not resettle any migrants who approach the country by boat, a policy intended to discourage dangerous ocean crossings and human smuggling. Since 2013, Australia has paid Papua New Guinea, its closest neighbor, to house hundreds of migrants caught at sea while trying to reach the continent.

About 600 migrants, all men, and mostly from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, remain at the center. Most of them have sought status as refugees or asylum seekers.

Many of the men have already had their asylum claims vetted and approved by the United States and are awaiting placement there, according to American officials. But nearly 200 have been rejected, leaving them in legal limbo.

What happened this week?

Tensions over the migrants have grown since the governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea agreed in April to close the site by Oct. 31.

Pacific Ocean

EQUATOR

Admiralty Islands

Manus

Bismark Sea

WEST PAPUA

INDONESIA

PAPUA

NEW GUINEA

Solomon Sea

Arafura Sea

Coral Sea

500 Miles

AUSTRALIA

Pacific Ocean

EQUATOR

Admiralty Islands

Manus

WEST

PAPUA

Bismark Sea

PAPUA

NEW GUINEA

Solomon Sea

Coral Sea

500 Miles

AUSTRALIA

NOV. 2, 2017

By The New York Times

On Tuesday, water and electricity to the camp were shut off, and detainees were supposed to move to temporary housing in Lorengau, a city close by on the island.

Many of the men refused, citing previous attacks by residents in Lorengau. Instead the migrants barricaded themselves inside, using solar power for their phones and digging wells for water as police cars circled.

“It’s very surprising to see it come to this level,” said Jonathan Pryke, Pacific Islands program director for the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. “It just seems like a complete mess.”

By Thursday, conditions in the camp appeared to have declined.

One detainee, Behrouz Boochani, a Kurdish journalist from Iran, said the men were experiencing dehydration, hunger, anxiety and the fear of attack and disease.

“Heat, humidity, hunger and incessant mosquitoes are taking their toll,” Mr. Boochani wrote on Facebook. “This is not a hunger strike. It is a situation that the Australian government has created, forcing people into starvation and these harsh conditions by refusing to offer a safe place for resettlement.”

By Friday, detainees said conditions were leading to illness. One asylum seeker, Imran Mohammad, said in a text message that three diabetic men had fallen ill because they were unable to get insulin, and the camp was strewn with garbage.

Photo

Protesting Australia’s handling of asylum seekers outside government offices in Sydney. Migrants caught at sea are sent to Manus and Nauru, another island. None are allowed to settle in Australia.Credit
Saeed Khan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Who is responsible?

The governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea each claim the other is responsible for relocating the men until a permanent solution can be found.

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Australia has pledged 250 million Australian dollars, or $193 million, for the men’s food and security at the facilities in Lorengau for the next year.

Julie Bishop, Australia’s foreign minister, said on Thursday that it made “no sense” for the detainees to remain at the camp. But Nat Jit Lam, the regional representative of the United Nations’ refugee agency, said the temporary housing was incomplete and unsafe.

“I will not be bringing any refugee there to stay — not in that state,” Mr. Lam told ABC Radio of Australia.

In a statement issued Thursday, the agency said: “Australia remains responsible for the well-being of all those moved to Papua New Guinea until adequate, long-term solutions outside the country are found.”

What will happen to the detainees?

Australia has consistently said it will not accept the men for resettlement.

They have all been given the option of permanent residency in Papua New Guinea, or applying to resettle in Cambodia or Nauru, the location of a second offshore facility run by the Australian government. None of the men still on Manus have accepted the offer, according to reports.

American officials said dozens if not hundreds of refugees from Manus and Nauru would be accepted in the coming weeks and months. About 50 men already moved to the United States in September under a deal brokered by former President Barack Obama.

Jacinda Ardern, the new prime minister of New Zealand, also said this week she would an honor a predecessor’s pledge to accept 150 refugees. The Australian government has been reluctant to allow New Zealand to accept the men, fearing it would open a legal backdoor to Australia.

If those options do not work out, there is another possibility: Russell Crowe, the Australian actor, offered on Twitter Wednesday to provide housing and jobs for six of the men. Calling Australia’s refugee policy the “nation’s shame,” he added, “I’m sure there’d be other Australians who would do the same.”

A version of this article appears in print on November 3, 2017, on Page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: U.N. Sees ‘Emergency’ In the Pacific. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe